THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PARTICIPATION OF THE CROATIAN SOCCER REPRESENTATION IN LARGE COMPETITIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCCER IN CROATIA

Abstract

 This paper contributes to the understanding of the economic impact of the Croatian national football team's participation in the World and European Championships on the overall development of Croatian football. The successes of the Croatian national football team are an incentive for children and young people who, delighted by their successes, start training football, that is, they enter the football "world". Also, the successes of the Croatian national football team, reflected in the economic aspect, have an economic impact on society, the federation, clubs and individual football players. Namely, the greater the success, the greater the financial reward, both for the athletes and for the sports association, which repeatedly affects the development of Croatian football. Through the topic of the research, the goal was to analyze and present whether there is and to what extent the economic impact of the participation of the Croatian national football team in major competitions on the development of football in Croatia. Scientific methods of induction and deduction, method of description and compilation were used. The empirical results of the research or the set variables point to facts where it is noticeable how big, significant and economically visible the success of the Croatian football team in major competitions has on the income of the Croatian Football Association, and thus immediately on the development of football in Croatia.